POLL: Do Bible citations belong on military gunscopes?

Tags:

U.S. General David Petraeus has criticised a company that embossed Bible citations on rifle scopes sent to forces fighting in Muslim countries. “This is of serious concern to me and to the other commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan because, indeed, it conveys a perception that is absolutely contrary to what it is that we have sought to do,” Petraeus said. Read our news story and tell us what you think in the following poll.

I’m a retired military officer. This is an egregious example of zealots putting our military at risk. Religion has no place on the battlefield – keep it behind the lines, where it is a choice to participate or not.

This has given the zealots on the other side too much propaganda fodder to throw back in our faces and use to rabble rouse more illiterate jihadists. The only way to successfully fight the superstitious and archaic world our opponents want to create is to provide education and freedom FROM religion – we can’t do that if we are wielding what are viewed as essentially christian weapons.

Shame on Trijicon, and I hope our military and the GAO do the right thing.

Author Profile

As Religion Editor based in Paris, I cover main religion developments, coordinate religion news coverage and run the FaithWorld blog. Since joining Reuters in 1977 in London, I've worked in Vienna, Geneva, Islamabad, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Bonn and Paris. My book Unchained Eagle: Germany after the Wall was published in 2000. In 2006, I received the European Religion Writer of the Year award and FaithWorld was awarded the RNA 2012 Best Online Section prize.